Benefits

• Community gardens allow families and individuals without land of their own the opportunity to produce food.

• Community gardens provide access to nutritionally rich foods that may otherwise be unavailable to low-income families and individuals.

• Urban agriculture is 3-5 times more productive per acre than traditional large-scale farming!

• Community gardens donate thousands of pounds of fresh produce to food pantries and involve people in processes that provide food security and alleviate hunger.

Health

• Studies have shown that community gardeners and their children eat healthier diets than do non-gardening families.

• Eating locally produced food reduces asthma rates, because children are able to consume manageable amounts of local pollen and develop immunities.

• Exposure to green space reduces stress and increases a sense of wellness and belonging.

• Increasing the consumption of fresh local produce is one of the best ways to address childhood lead poisoning.

Community Organizing

• Community gardens offer a focal point for community organizing, and can lead to community-based efforts to deal with other social concerns.

• Community gardens increase a sense of community ownership and stewardship.

• Community gardens bring people together from a wide variety of backgrounds (age, race, culture, social class).

Crime Prevention

• Community gardens provide opportunities to meet neighbors.

• Community gardens increase eyes on the street.

• Community gardening is recognized by the many police departments as an effective community crime prevention strategy.

Cultural Opportunities

• Community gardens allow people from diverse backgrounds to work side-by-side on common goals without speaking the same language.

• Community gardens offer unique opportunities for new immigrants (who tend to be concentrated in low-income urban communities) to:

– Produce traditional crops otherwise unavailable locally,

– Take advantage of the experience of elders to produce a significant amount of food for the household

– Provide inter-generational exposure to cultural traditions,

– Offer a cultural exchange with other gardeners,

Youth

Community gardens offer unique opportunities to teach youth about:

• Where food comes from

• Practical math skills

• The importance of community and stewardship

• Issues of environmental sustainability

• Job and life skills

• Community gardening is a healthy, inexpensive activity for youth that can bring them closer to nature, and allow them to interact with each other in a socially meaningful and physically productive way.

Green Space

• Community gardens add beauty to the community and heighten people’s awareness and appreciation for living things.

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One response to “Benefits”

Through our recent employee survey, a few employees at Martin Guitar have expressed an interest in Community Gardening. Can you provide specific contact information to me so that I may distribute this information to our employee base?